FORT WORTH, Texas (Feb. 7, 2020) – The Ben Hogan Trophy Award Foundation has announced that Pepperdine’s Sahith Theegala has been named the Ben Hogan Award’s January Golfer of the Month.
Theegala won both events he entered during the calendar’s first month and shot a combined 22-under par over seven rounds (68.86 scoring average). The Chino Hills, Calif., native opened by claiming a four-shot triumph at the Australian Master of the Amateurs with a four-round 278 (-10). Just eight of the 78 players finished under par in an event that annually ranks among the top 20 amateur tournaments in the world.
In addition, the senior was victorious in the Waves’ first college event of the spring season, the Southwestern Invitational. Theegala won by one shot with a 12-under score of 204 and finished seven strokes ahead of third place.
Theegala is currently ranked fifth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and 10th in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking. He claimed the monthly honor over fellow finalists Blake Hathcoat of Saint Mary’s and Henry Lee of Washington.
Fifteen total ballots were cast, with 12 coming from members of the Hogan Trophy Foundation and Friends of Golf and three social media fan ballots. Theegala claimed all three social media votes (Instagram, Twitter and Facebook).
In line with the yearly Ben Hogan Award, voters consider all college, amateur and professional event results. Winning a monthly award is not a prerequisite to be named a Ben Hogan Award semifinalist, finalist or winner. Theegala joins the season’s previous winners: Georgia Tech’s Andy Ogletree (August), Baylor’s Cooper Dossey (September), Rutgers’ Christopher Gotterup (October) and BYU’s Peter Kuest (October), Wake Forest’s Parker Gillam (November) and Georgia Tech’s Noah Norton (December).
The Ben Hogan Award is given each May to the top men’s college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions over the past 12 months. The Ben Hogan Trophy was first issued by the Friends of Golf at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles in 1990. In 2002, the Ben Hogan Award moved to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, and revised its criteria to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur and collegiate golfer.
–www.TheBenHoganAward.org–
